Down on the Marlins farm

MIAMI — Here’s a look at what’s going on in the Marlins’ Minor League system this week.

Triple-A Albuquerque

Lo Duca stepping in

How Paul Lo Duca performs in Triple-A Albuquerque is going to be an interesting thing to watch throughout the next week or so. He’ll start doing that on Saturday. Thin on catching for most of the season, the Marlins finally made a move they didn’t appear they’d want to make all season when they picked up Lo Duca to help out. Even though they got Matt Treanor back from injury, Lo Duca provides a veteran presence to the position.

However, Lo Duca has not played since the end of July, and he hasn’t played catcher. His role with the Marlins is unknown, but his goal is to get a lot of reps behind the plate with the Isotopes to get tuned up for the big club. This year, he has only started behind the plate in 19 games with the Nationals — 14 of those games came before May 7.

In his only full season with the Marlins in 2005, the 36-year-old right-handed hitter hit .283 with six home runs and 57 RBIs. This year with the Nationals, Lo Duca hit just .230 with no home runs and 12 RBIs in 46 games.

Double-A Carolina

Sanchez has hot July

In case you’ve missed it, Gaby Sanchez has been lighting it up in the Minor Leagues this season — especially last month. In July, Sanchez was named the Topps Player of the Month, as voted by Southern League managers, after he hit .379 with seven home runs, seven doubles and 29 RBIs. With his performance, the Mudcats went from 2 1/2 back in their division to three games up at the end of the month. In July, Sanchez also made an appearance at the Southern League All-Star Game and enjoyed an 11-game hitting streak — which saw him bat .488.

Drafted by the Marlins in the fourth round of the 2005 Draft, Sanchez — a 24-year-old right-handed hitter who stands 6-foot-2 and weights about 225 pounds — is hitting .329 with 11 home runs and 66 RBIs in 102 games this season. In four seasons in the Marlins’ farm system, Sanchez has a combined .308 batting average.

The Miami native, who graduated from Brito High School and attended the University of Miami, is a corner infielder who also plays catcher, but he’s been playing mostly first base.

Single A Greensboro

Stanton on a tear

Marlins outfield prospect Michael Stanton got a bit of notoriety towards the Trade Deadline because of rumors of him being involved in potential deals. Simply put, the 19-year-old can hit. Over his last 10 games, Stanton has proved that, batting .389 with five home runs and 10 RBIs.

On the year, the 6-foot-5 California native is hitting .289 with 29 home runs and 73 RBIs in 105 games.